Restorationists

In the movie, Star Wars, a legendary Jedi Master named Obi Wan Kenobi was a noble man and gifted in the ways of the Force. His wisdom was sought by all the good guys. But I digress…

My brother-in-Christ, Billy Kersh, and I made a visit to the real life mirror image of Obi Wan Kenobi. First you need to know a little about Billy. Billy is 73, has an IQ of 132, and is literate in most all Bible subjects. I took Billy with me thinking he and my old friend, Howard Trimmer, would enjoy a biblical discussion. As it turned out, Billy, who is usually a chatty fellow, sat almost nose to nose with Howard, who is blind and nearly deaf, listening to him share depths of biblical wisdom neither Billy nor I had grasped before. Billy commented afterwards that he wished we had recorded what Howard said.

Howard is 93 years old, a man who knows science from black holes to the orbital measurements making possible the workings of planets and the flight of satellites. He was once part of the team working on the Hubble Telescope’s trajectory. I met him years before he was blind and relegated to a wheelchair. I can’t explain why he and I are such close friends, why he thinks he ever learned anything from me, or why he wants my company, but he does, and for that I am blessed.

That’s the back-story to this post. I dare not share all that he revealed to us as there is neither time nor ability. I will offer a tidbit ~ just enough to whet your taste buds and hopefully make you scramble for your Bible.

Howard is concerned the church is becoming so institutionalized that it will lose the Lord’s original intent. He‘s concerned we are becoming like starched shirts hanging on the clothesline instead of lively stones building up the Kingdom. He believes we have become second cousins to the Pharisees, making rules, laws, and regimentation that will stifle and eventually make the body of Christ unrecognizable. Some things he said hit us in the face like a wet skunk. After reaching into his memory (since he can no longer read), he quoted Scriptures we were familiar with, but hadn’t recognized the heart behind them.

In this post I will not relate our experience except to ask that you never quit studying the Word of God. All I will reveal is this: the principles Jesus taught in his daily life, which are recorded in the Gospels, are far superior to the deductions brilliant scholars think they’ve discovered. The Bible is a book for all, not just those knowing Hebrew or Greek. Never leave your brain on the church building doorsteps when going to worship with the saints, and never leave your heart anywhere ~ not ever!

God bless.

I’ve changed my mind about the body, the church of Christ, since the time I was a young preacher. I no longer see that body as a faction centering around a partisan doctrine. I don’t regard it as a denomination bearing a specific name and meeting behind recognized signs that display a certain title. I no longer believe that fellowship is conditional upon agreement with someone’s church view. It seems that what people have in their heart is far more important that what they have in their heads. The Holy Spirit can dwell in some pretty ignorant people. If not, a lot of us are in big trouble.

I believe in the one body! There is one body precisely as there is one Spirit and one Lord. And that body is the called-out fellowship of believers. Every saved person is in that body. Man can no more create another body than he can create another Spirit or Lord. It’s sad when congregations see themselves as the only saints in town.

The body of Christ is not a collection of congregations, all of which are stereotypes, and often sterile reproductions of one another. Congregations in apostolic days were not alike. Their unity was in Christ. Jesus was their pattern. They were different from one another. If not, one letter would have been plenty for all. They were different in problems and in point of view. Sound familiar?

The body of Christ is not composed of movements in history. The body never died and it did not have to be restored. It befuddles me when certain groups lay claim to being the most recent “Movement” of the Lord. It’s as though they believe they’ve now got all the Christians, and the rest of the church is going to hell. It’s become so bad that congregations within movements have advertised to tell where “faithful brethren” meet. I’d like to see just one that says: “Churches Loving God and His Family”.

The one body is not the restoration movement and the restoration movement is not the one body. The body is bigger than any movement. It is greater than all of them put together. God knows how great it is, but no one on earth does. You can no more count the redeemed on earth while they are scattered than you can in heaven when they are all together. John said, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb'” (Revelation 7:9-10).

For this reason, I’ll rejoice with all those who are in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When I’m in heaven I’ll be relieved I counted them among the fellowship. If you’re not there, because of your rejection of them on earth, I’ll give them your regards.